The arrival of David Hytner’s match report is my signal to shut this blog down and enjoy a bit of Celebrity Catchphrase. Thanks for your company, goodnight!
A beaming Mikel Arteta speaks to Sky Sports
So proud. We had to make it happen. We knew there would be moments when we had to suffer, and it was a big, big performance. We were really aggressive in the second half and the changes really helped – they gave us a new energy.
It’s not easy to get out against a high press. What I like is the courage: if it doesn’t happen, keep doing it, keep doing it; that’s the team we are. The crowd need to understand that and not shout at the players (I think that’s what he said) – it’s my fault!
David Raya was excellent. I love players with big courage, and he certainly has… big ones.
[Gabriel Martinelli] is another one with big ones as well. Nobody expected him to be fit – the physios weren’t really having it - but he said yesterday he was available, then Leo [Trossard] got injured, I looked around and he already dressed and ready to go. He’s just a joy.
This game is just part of the journey. You learn from every defeat, every win. The players are a joy to work with; they deserve to live this moment.
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Bernardo Silva talks to Sky Sports
It’s a setback, but it’s still the beginning. We’re far away from the end of the season. Against a top opponent at the Emirates, it’s never easy to play. The game was tough for both teams, it could have gone either way. It was decided in a detail, by a deflection. In my opinion we gave them too much time to think and put the ball in behind. We have to be a bit more intense in the way we press in those moments. It is what it is; it’s part of football.
I’m comfortable playing as a No6. It’s not my natural position but I’m comfortable, especially with the ball. It’s something I’m used to doing, so I don’t think it’s a big thing. Last season I was more uncomfortable playing as a left-back than I was today as a No6.
Last season we won the Treble, and there was a point in the season when nothing was going our way. You have these moments. It’s the way you overcome them that defines what you are and who you are.
Erling Haaland didn’t have a shot on or off target, which is a triumph for Gabriel, Saliba and indeed Rice and Jorginho. Arsenal got lucky at the end but their defensive excellence gave them the chance to do so.
The Gabriels talk to Sky Sports
Martinelli “I’m not the man. Everyone has played a part in this victory. I scored the goal but it was down to the whole team, the staff and the fans as well. Luckily I was able to return for this game and I’m so happy with the victory. It gives us more confidence.”
Jesus “[Is that worth more than three points?] For sure. Everyone knows how hard it is to play against them. But I’ve said before, it’s not impossible to beat them. It’s our home and we had to try everything to win. I’ve very happy for Gabi. Congrats for everyone. [He looks utterly shattered] It’s not easy playing 90 minutes three times in a week, but I did it. I think my fitness is back and I was fighting everywhere to help the team. All the team played amazingly and we won the game.”
A date for the diary
Sunday 31 March (probably): Man City v Arsenal.
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The updated league table
“Mate, I’m just copying Pep”
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tottenham Hotspur | 8 | 10 | 20 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 8 | 10 | 20 |
| 3 | Man City | 8 | 11 | 18 |
| 4 | Liverpool | 8 | 9 | 17 |
| 5 | Aston Villa | 8 | 7 | 16 |
| 6 | Brighton | 8 | 5 | 16 |
| 7 | West Ham | 8 | 3 | 14 |
| 8 | Newcastle | 8 | 11 | 13 |
| 9 | Crystal Palace | 8 | 0 | 12 |
| 10 | Man Utd | 8 | -3 | 12 |
| 11 | Chelsea | 8 | 4 | 11 |
| 12 | Fulham | 8 | -5 | 11 |
| 13 | Nottm Forest | 8 | -2 | 9 |
| 14 | Wolverhampton | 8 | -5 | 8 |
| 15 | Brentford | 8 | -1 | 7 |
| 16 | Everton | 8 | -3 | 7 |
| 17 | Luton | 8 | -9 | 4 |
| 18 | Burnley | 8 | -13 | 4 |
| 19 | AFC Bournemouth | 8 | -13 | 3 |
| 20 | Sheff Utd | 8 | -16 | 1 |
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“I don’t think I can take another season of hope,” writes Kári Tulinius. “But I’ll enjoy their warm feeling tonight.”
Kyle Walker has just squared up to a security official who was trying to usher him down the tunnel. Erling Haaland seemed to be involved as well, though it calmed down pretty quickly.
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Arsenal have beaten Manchester City in the Premier League for the first time since December 2015. More importantly, they’ve ended a run of 12 consecutive defeats and told their collective subconscious that there’s nothing to fear. We’ll find out over the next eight months whether they’re right, but for now they get to bathe in the glory of a huge victory.
Mikel Arteta is beaming as he walks round the pitch congratulating his players and applauding the fans. It was an awful game, cagey and crotchety, which was settled by Gabriel Martinelli’s deflected shot in the 87th minute. A word too for Declan Rice, who was outstanding in midfield.
"The atmosphere here is special" 🙌
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) October 8, 2023
What a result for Arsenal! 🔴 pic.twitter.com/gJ9Jh6vOhR
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Full time: Arsenal 1-0 Manchester City
What an excellent day for an exorcism.
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90+3 min Jesus kicks the ball away, then Ederson shoves him over. Both are booked.
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90+2 min Gvardiol overhits a pass to Doku. City have been very poor in the final third; in fact Raya still hasn’t had a save to make, though Rice – the player of the match IMO – did head off the line in the first few minutes.
90+1 min The last time City lost consecutive league games was to Crystal Palace and Leicester in December 2018. Yeah. they won the league that year too.
90 min There are only four minutes of added time.
89 min The fans are gleefully sing “1-0 to the Arsenal”, a song from a different lifetime. After 12 consecutive league defeats to Manchester City, this would bring all kinds of catharsis.
88 min Three substitutes combined for that goal, which will give Mikel Arteta all kinds of pleasure. The goal has been awarded to Martinelli, whose shot was apparently on target. I suspect Ederson would have saved it, but the deflection gave him no chance.
It was a crap goal, befitting the game, and Arsenal will not care one bit about that. A long ball into the box from Partey was headed down by Tomiyasu to his fellow substitute Havertz. He laid the ball off invitingly to Martinelli, whose first-time shot from 20 yards took a huge deflection off Ake and wrongfooted Ederson.
HUGE GOAL FOR ARSENAL! 🔥
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) October 8, 2023
Martinelli's deflected effort gives Arsenal late lead ✅ pic.twitter.com/clU60QH4Sy
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GOAL! Arsenal 1-0 Man City (Martinelli 87)
Gabriel Martinelli has broken the hoodoo!
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85 min Theer’s a VAR check for an Arsenal penalty when Jesus stumbles over Ake in the area. Nothing doing.
83 min “Seeing Alex Ferguson in that clip from Turkey reminded me of the sad news that came through about his wife Cathy during the week, Rob,” says Simon McMahon. “I think many fans often forget, or maybe don’t even consider, the fact that players, and managers, are human and have families. I’m thinking of Harry Maguire in particular, but he’s far from the only one. Football is a very tribal game, and passions run high, but as we say up here, we’re a’ Jock Tamson’s bairns at the end of the day.”
80 min Both teams are more conscious of defeat than victory, which I guess is understandable. Nunes surges forward and plays a slick one-two with Haaland, but Rice gets back to make a fine sliding challenge on the edge of the area.
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78 min A late goal for either team would be against the run of play.
77 min Odegaard wins a corner off Doku. Odegaard akes himself, whipping an inswinger that is headed away very well by Kyle Walker. He’s been immaculate.
76 min “Thank God Michael Oliver kept it as 11 v 11,” writes Gary Naylor. “A red card would have denied us this fantastic spectacle!”
76 min: Triple substitution for Arsenal Takehiro Tomiyasu, Thomas Partey and Kai Havertz replace Oleksandr Zinchenko, Jorginho and Eddie Nketiah. That probably means Havertz will play up front.
75 min Odegaard shoots high and wide from 25 yards.
74 min Nunes’s corner is claimed with authority by Raya, who has had a much calmer second half.
74 min Doku, who has energised City since coming on, has moved to the left to test White. He gallops into the area and drives a cross that the sliding White puts behind for a corner.
72 min “For some reason I always take a look at City’s lineup to see if Kalvin Phillips makes the first team as a giggle,” says Joe Balfour. “I know City have so much quality but do you think he’s the new Danny Drinkwater? Pep just doesn’t want him, nobody except Southgate seems to rate him. Is Phillips that bad or just at the wrong club?”
Wrong club IMO. He’ll be a very good player for somebody next season. It is a bit strange though – today suggests he’s the sixth-choice No6.
71 min Now Arsenal are preparing to make a triple substitution: Tomiyasu, Havertz and Partey.
69 min Doku dazzles Zinchenko with some fancy footwork, but his low cross is cleared by Gabriel at the near post. This is City’s best spell of the second half.
69 min Stones is playing as a No6 rather than stepping in from centre-back. Doku has started on the right.
68 min: Triple substitution for City John Stones, Jeremy Doku and Matheus Nunes replace Rico Lewis (who was pretty good), Mateo Kovacic and Julian Alvarez.
66 min Alvarez’s corner is punched away emphatically by Raya, who interestingly went with only one fist, just like Eric Cantona.
65 min After a long spell of City possession, Dias’s cross towards Lewis is headed behind by White.
64 min Pep Guardiola is about to make a triple substitution: Doku, Stones and Nunes are coming on (I think).
63 min When an Arsenal corner is half cleared, Zinchenko locates Row J from distance.
63 min This game is starting to resemble the cagey goalless draw between Liverpool and Manchester City at Anfield five years ago yesterday. That result ultimately cost Liverpool the title, I guess.
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61 min “Is Haaland playing?” writes Jeff Sax. “He has had no effect on the game so far.”
He just fell over, which the home fans very much enjoyed. The quieter he is, the more worried I’d probably be as an Arsenal supporter.
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59 min The left-back Gvardiol has arguably been City’s most purposeful attacker so far, which is another thing I didn’t expect to type today.
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58 min City suddenly spring into action. Alvarez releases the overlapping Gvardiol, who fizzes a square ball to Foden just inside the area. He can’t sort his feet out for a shot so instead lays it back to Alvarez, whose first-time shot is well blocked by Gabriel. He and Saliba have been excellent.
57 min City make a total Horlicks of the free-kick.
56 min Lewis puts the ball in the Arsenal net, though Michael Oliver had long since penalised Martinelli for fouling him 30 yards from goal. He handled it anyway so there’s no controversy here, it gives me great pleasure ro report.
Updated
55 min Odegaard chips a seductive ball into Nketiah, back to goal in the area. Dias holds him up expertly and that’s the end of that.
54 min It’s all Arsenal at the start of the second half. City look like a team waiting to concede, which feels very weird to type.
52 min “Russell Yong gives no consideration to how many chances were created as a result of the keeper booting it long and giving it away to the opposition around midfield,” says Adam Becker. “Granted, it is a much less dangerous chance, but the maths of the volume of chances there, plus the possession given away by booting it long, could very well mean playing it short is statistically better. I don’t know for sure, but there are more variables than just the comical errors in front of goal (which I think Russell is overstating the frequency of anyway).”
These are very fair points. It’s a complicated subject if you only consider the percentages, never mind when you add managerial philosophy and everything else.
51 min Declan Rice is having a terrific game. He robs Lewis and slides an angled pass to Martinelli, who whacks a shot straight at Ederson from a tight angle. Much better from Arsenal.
50 min Nketiah wins a corner for Arsenal. Martinelli’s wicked inswinger is flapped away under pressure by Ederson. Jesus whacks it back into the middle, where it hits a defender and deflects to White. He lays it back to Odegaard, who shoots over from 20 yards.
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49 min Arsenal have started the second half better than City, who have looked half asleep for most of this game, even when they’ve been keeping the ball for long periods. They’re not right at the moment, though I appreciate there are reasons for that.
47 min Martinelli has already got the crowd going. He throws a few shapes on the left, then curls a good inswinging cross that just evades Jesus at the far post.
47 min “Penny for Alex Greenwood’s thoughts given her and Mateo Kovačić’s respective afternoons,” writes Tom Stratford. “Not sure I entirely understand this sport anymore…”
46 min Peep peep!
Half-time substitution for Arsenal To loud cheers, Gabriel Martinelli returns to the side in place of Leandro Trossard.
“I understand the frustration with Kovacic not being sent off, I’m an Arsenal fan, but I still have sympathy with Michael Oliver,” writes Kári Tulinius. “Referees used to be interpreters of the game, artists in their own right, but now thanks to VAR people expect them to mete out objective justice.”
I’d argue that VAR has created such a monstrous culture of entitlement that people expect referees to mete out subjective justice – the justice they want as a fan. This is why it’s too late to go back to the old system.
“I completely disagree with you on the Jones tackle last week,” says Espen Bommen. “However, that aside, would you agree that if VAR freezes a frame of the studs making contact with Odegaard and his ankle bent at a horrible angle, Kovacic would now be off? There are many reasons to be opposed to VAR. One of them is that [potential libel deleted as a precaution because I missed our legal training session this week due to the cricket World Cup].”
To play or not to play
“G’day Rob,” says Russell Yong. “Hearing of the latest travails of Raya and Onana, the mind harkens to those blooper compilations that were so popular round the turn of the century (you know the ones: slide whistles, comedic commentary, usually by Danny Baker). Back then, howlers of the ‘goalkeeper gets robbed/cheaply coughs up possession to pressing striker’ category were so rare they were genuinely memorable and the same from compilation to compilation. These days it feels like we have enough such moments from across Europe to fill a whole DVD every week.
“When it comes to playing out from the back and keepers playing like outfielders, it’s all very well if you’re City and can count on scoring five even if you cough up one (though it must be said that Ederson, for all that his team represents the alpha and omega of this playing style, actually rarely gives away such chances), but if you’re anyone else, having your goalkeeper risk giving away even just one such chance a week is not something you can afford.
“I get that tactics evolve, but it seems ludicrous that so many managers, managing blatantly inferior players, have decided this risk is worth it and this is the acceptable logical conclusion. It makes me wonder when we’re going to have a moment of great reckoning, although thinking back to the 2018 World Cup final and Mandzukic ‘doing’ Lloris, if that didn’t force a reckoning, l guess we’ll never get one.”
It would be interesting to know whether the decision to play out like that is driven by data, managerial ego, both or neither. And talking of bloopers, this clip fills me with joy.
Half time: Arsenal 0-0 Man City
Peep peep! No goals at the Emirates and not much excitement. Josko Gvardiola had the only shot on target, which was headed off the line by the outstanding Declan Rice, though Nathan Ake missed a very good chance and David Raya almost gave a goal to Julian Alvarez.
City came closer to scoring, yet it’s Arsenal who will feel aggrieved as they walk down the tunnel. Mateo Kovacic might have been sent off for a bad tackle on Martin Odegaard and was very lucky to avoid a second yellow for a lunge at Rice.
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45 min Three minutes of added time.
43 min “So last week we see Curtis Jones sent off for a very similar foul to the one committed by Kovacic, but this week it is perfectly fine,” says Richard Hirst. “Go fathom.”
Jones’s tackle was higher and therefore potentially more dangerous. I thought a yellow card was just about right for Kovacic’s first foul, but I’m very surprised he got away with the second. VAR can’t get involved for bookings either, which is something they may need to think about, certainly for (potential) second yellows.
Mateo Kovačić escapes with just a yellow for this challenge on Martin Ødegaard 😬 pic.twitter.com/dHPyZZzr7H
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) October 8, 2023
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43 min This has been a crap first half, but it’s Arsenal v City so it has been pretty compelling nonetheless.
41 min City work the ball superbly through midfield and then down the left. An outstanding cross from Gvardiol is missed by Raya, flapping desperately, but both Gabriel and Haaland can’t make contact at the far post.
38 min Zinchenko has two shots blocked in the space of three or four seconds. City break and Lewis tries to play in Haaland, who bounces off Saliba and falls over. Saliba will feel 12 feet tall right now; that was a vital bit of defending.
38 min Arsenal are the better team at the moment. The match is also becoming more emotional, which should suit them more than City.
35 min Kovacic is late on Rice, and pretty much everyone at the Emirates expects him to be sent off. The referee Michael Oliver immediately waves his hands to say it’s not worthy of a second yellow card. Mikel Arteta dances around in the highest dudgeon, and this time his antics are understandable: Kovacic should have been sent off. For an experienced player on a yellow card, that was a bizarrely risky tackle.
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34 min Alvarez wallops miles over from 25 yards.
33 min “Arsenal seem to get up for playing United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Spurs, but go into a complete mental fug against City,” says Ederson. “Unless they start believing they can beat the champions they are never going to manage it. Arteta has received huge praise for coming second but it seems to me more Solskjaer than Klopp.”
Time will tell. Didn’t they play well for an hour in the home game last year? I missed it because I was working overnight on the cricket, but that’s the impression I got from the reports I skim-read at 4am when I was barely awake.
I’ve been surprised by how poor they’ve been today. That said, the absence of Martinelli and Saka – key players but also such an important part of Arsenal’s identity – is huge.
32 min Neither keeper has made a save by the way.
29 min The check is complete, and Mateo Kovacic has put Manchester City 1-0 up. Arf.
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VAR check Kovacic could be off here. In my opinion it’s not quite a clear and obvious error, but it was a poor challenge.
28 min Arsenal are having their first decent spell of possession, and Kovacic has just been booked for a poor tackle on Odegaard. It was somewhere between a yellow- and a red-card offence, with his studs plunging into Odegaard’s ankle. It’s being checked by VAR.
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27 min: Half chance for Arsenal! A lapse in concentration from Dias allows Zinchenko’s pass infield to reach Nketiah on the left side of the box. Nketiah cuts inside, on his right foot, but sprays a shot well wide of the far post.
26 min “Remember that game in the 1982 World Cup,” says Stephen Carr, “when both teams knew a draw was enough so they just passed it sideways for 90 minutes?”
Remember it? I watched the whole thing a few years ago. It wasn’t actually as bad as I feared.
25 min Declan Rice is having to put out too many fires for Arsenal’s liking.
24 min A poor pass from Raya puts Rice in trouble 25 yards from goal. He’s robbed by Kovacic, allowing Bernardo Silva to collect the loose ball. He finds Alvarez, whose low cross is cut out by Rice.
23 min Bernardo Silva, the locum for Rodri, is booked for a foul on Nketiah.
22 min Ake finds Gvardiola in a lot of space down the left, with Jesus sleeping. His cross is cut out by Saliba at the near post.
21 min Rice steps in front of Lewis to make a fine interception and start an Arsenal break. Which ends a split-second later when Odegaard overhits a through ball to Nketiah. Arsenal have been so poor on the ball.
The positive for Mikel Arteta is that there’s no way Arsenal can play this badly for 90 minutes, and it’s still 0-0.
20 min “Raya’s thing seems to be standing still with his foot on the ball until a player comes to close him down, then making a short pass (if he’s lucky),” says Joe Johnson. “Is that not something we could teach Ramsdale to do?”
19 min After that mistake from Raya, Mikel Arteta waved for the home fans to make more noise. The Emirates is a surprisingly nervous place.
17 min: What a let-off for Raya! Gabriel passes the ball across the six-yard box to Raya, whose first touch is poor, inviting Alvarez to charge towards him. Raya panicks and belts a clearance that hits Alvarez and ricochets into the side netting. That could so easily have gone into the net.
“I can spot a goalkeeper a mile off,” says Gary Neville on Sky, “and Raya’s a nervous wreck.”
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16 min City continue to dictate the game, though it’s been a demonstration of sterile domination more than anything.
15 min “I remember watching Jorginho in his first appearances for Chelsea,” boasts Matt Dony. “I was blown away. He seemed to completely control games, while making everything look so easy. Played almost like Riquelme, which is the highest of praise. Then, several million five-yard sideways passes later, I can safely say that my initial enthusiasm was exaggerated. Fine player, yes. But a frustrating one.”
Pep Guardiola was after him that summer as well. You could probably make an XI out of players who were wanted by Pep but went to one of City’s rivals. It wouldn’t be that good a team either.
13 min Rico Lewis is demanding the ball constantly. That’s not surprising, but it’s pretty impressive for a teenager playing in central midfield in a game of this size. Jack Wilshere was the same at that age; let’s hope Lewis has more luck with injuries.
12 min Thus far it’s been a chess match in football clothing. City have taken a couple of pawns; that’s about it.
11 min Foden flies away from Jorginho, who pulls him back and is booked. Mikel Arteta takes the opportunity to give Jorginho some tactical instructions on the touchline.
10 min Nothing comes of the corner, and then White is caught offside.
Correction, he was flagged offside; I’m not sure he was.
9 min Trossard sprays a fine pass out to Jesus, who runs at Gvardiol and wins Arsenal’s first corner.
8 min Rice is playing deeper than Kai Havertz usually does, covering Zinchenko when he moves into midfield, so Arsenal’s formation is closer to 4-2-1-3 than 4-1-2-3.
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7 min Arsenal usually make a very fast start in big games at home – remember Martinelli’s goal after 58 seconds against Liverpool – but they haven’t settled here.
4 min: Off the line by Rice! Two chances in quick succession for City. Foden’s deep, inswinging corner was missed by Raya and hooked towards goal by Gvardiol, who was being manhandled by Odegaard. Rice headed that off the line but City put the ball back in towards Haaland, who headed it on to Ake. He took a touch and shot over from 10 yards. Ake was under pressure from Saliba, but that was still an excellent chance.
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4 min A nervous square pass from Rice, on the edge of the Arsenal area, goes straight out of play.
3 min Plenty of early possession for City, mostly in the middle third. They’ve started like the home side.
2 min This is the revised City shape.
Manchester City (4-1-2-3) Ederson; Walker, Dias, Ake, Gvardiol; Bernardo; Lewis, Kovacic; Alvarez, Haaland, Foden.
2 min City have started with Bernardo Silva as the No6 and Julian Alvarez on the right. I don’t think anyone expected that. Gabriel Jesus is playing on the right for Arsenal.
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1 min Peep peep! City, in the form of Mateo Kovacic, kick off from right to left as we watch.
“Leave aside Bukayo Saka, let the Arsenal fan’s eye travel over the team sheet,” says Charles Antaki. “He’s good … he’s terrific… great acquisition ... marvellous ... Rolls-Royce there… magnificent… brilliant player… wouldn’t swap that guy for anyone… And then we hit a dip in the road when it comes to the centre forward.
“Eddie Nketiah is super-willing, capable of moments of supreme skill, an academy graduate we all want to see prosper and thrive. But seeing him in the company that the team has now become, the brow furrows just a little bit. May he prove all that wrong and score a double hat-trick before 5pm.”
The players stroll out of the tunnel and onto the field. It’s an unseasonably warm day in north London; both teams will want the ball to do the work.
Erling Haaland and Gabriel Jesus speak to Sky Sports
"It's always a special game!" 🤩
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) October 8, 2023
Erling Haaland is ready to go ahead of Man City's battle against Arsenal at the Emirates! 💥 pic.twitter.com/FH4Jsaaz9F
"Three points are SO important for us today!" 💬
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) October 8, 2023
Gabriel Jesus ahead of Arsenal's huge clash against Man City at the Emirates 🔥 pic.twitter.com/WIo1KtKxil
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Premier League results
There were three 2pm games, all pretty entertaining. Here’s how they finished.
Brighton 2-2 Liverpool
West Ham 2-2 Newcastle
Wolves 1-1 Aston Villa
It’s pretty tight up there. Arsenal and City can both go top this afternoon, though Arsenal would need to win by two (or 4-3, 5-4 etc).
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tottenham Hotspur | 8 | 10 | 20 |
| 2 | Man City | 7 | 12 | 18 |
| 3 | Liverpool | 8 | 9 | 17 |
| 4 | Arsenal | 7 | 9 | 17 |
| 5 | Aston Villa | 8 | 7 | 16 |
| 6 | Brighton | 8 | 5 | 16 |
| 7 | West Ham | 8 | 3 | 14 |
| 8 | Newcastle | 8 | 11 | 13 |
| 9 | Crystal Palace | 8 | 0 | 12 |
| 10 | Man Utd | 8 | -3 | 12 |
| 11 | Chelsea | 8 | 4 | 11 |
| 12 | Fulham | 8 | -5 | 11 |
| 13 | Nottm Forest | 8 | -2 | 9 |
| 14 | Wolverhampton | 8 | -5 | 8 |
| 15 | Brentford | 8 | -1 | 7 |
| 16 | Everton | 8 | -3 | 7 |
| 17 | Luton | 8 | -9 | 4 |
| 18 | Burnley | 8 | -13 | 4 |
| 19 | AFC Bournemouth | 8 | -13 | 3 |
| 20 | Sheff Utd | 8 | -16 | 1 |
Here’s Barney Ronay on Erling Haaland, who is in the middle of a shocking 256-minute goal drought.
Who knew Phil Foden and Nelly Furtado had so much in common.
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Jonathan Wilson’s tactical preview
Team news: Saka not in Arsenal squad
Some interesting team news on both sides. Bukayo Saka isn’t in the squad, though Gabriel Martinelli – who has been out for three weeks – is on the bench. Jorginho is preferred to Kai Havertz, so Declan Rice will probably play as a No8. Eddie Nketiah is Saka’s replacement, which means a rejig up front, and Ben White returns at right-back.
Pep Guardiola prefers Rico Lewis to Kalvin Phillips in midfield and Phil Foden to Jack Grealish on the left. John Stones is fit enough for the bench.
Arsenal (possible 4-1-2-3) Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Jorginho; Odegaard, Rice; Jesus, Nketiah, Trossard.
Substitutes: Ramsdale, Tomiyasu, Kiwior, Partey, Smith Rowe, Vieira, Nelson, Martinelli, Havertz.
Manchester City (possible 4-2-1-3) Ederson; Walker, Dias, Ake, Gvardiol; Lewis, Kovacic; Alvarez; Bernardo, Haaland, Foden.
Substitutes: Ortega Moreno, Phillips, Stones, Grealish, Doku, Gomez, Akanji, Nunes, Bobb.
Referee Michael Oliver.
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Preamble
Rishi Sunak and the people of Islington don’t agree on much, but they’re all adamant it’s a time for change. Sunak wants to fix 13 years of Conservative governance; Arsenal are desperate to end eight years of Manchester City dominance. Their last Premier League victory over City was in December 2015, when Prince and David Bowie were alive and the league leaders Leicester were being patronised within an inch of their life.
Arsenal have lost their last crikey, I had no idea it was that bad 12 Premier League games against City, including a horrible chasing at the Etihad in April. Most of the time City have put Arsenal over their knee; on a couple of occasions, most notably New Year’s Day 2022, Arsenal were excellent and a bit unfortunate. This is their chance to prove that things are different now, and that they ain’t ’fraid of no Goats.
It does feel like a decent time to play City, who are without Rodri, John Stones and Kevin De Bruyne and even an association football match last weekend. Then again, Arsenal are without Gabriel Martinelli and possibly Bukayo Saka, so nobody knows anything. It should be fun finding out.
Kick off 4.30pm.
